The Higher Education Financial Wellness Alliance is a network of professionals dedicated to bringing together post-secondary organizations to inform national conversations that impact the financial wellness field, public policy and educational support services.
The Higher Education Financial Wellness Alliance was created as a result of the success of the annual Higher Education Financial Wellness Summit (originally known as the National Summit on Collegiate Financial Wellness), which was first held in 2014.
The initial primary objective behind the Summit was to bring practitioners together to explore how institutions can better provide access to financial education material that would help address issues related to student debt and a lack of financial literacy among college students. While it is still a core piece of the Summit, the programming has expanded to address barriers to degree completion that stem from students’ financial issues, such as food insecurity, homelessness, and overall financial fragility.
While the Summit has been a positive venue for bringing together financial wellness champions from around the country, there is now a clear demand for the opportunity to continue the conversations throughout the rest of the year. This is the reason for the Alliance: to be the premiere forum for conversations related to financial wellness in higher education.
Mission
The Higher Education Financial Wellness Alliance is a network of professionals dedicated to bringing together post-secondary organizations to inform national conversations that impact the financial wellness field, public policy, and educational support services.
Vision
The Higher Education Financial Wellness Alliance will be the premier forum for conversations related to financial wellness in higher education. Through programming, policy, and research the alliance will scale impactful solutions and further the national discussion to assist campuses in developing financial wellness for students to support responsible college financing, remove barriers to degree completion, and provide lifelong skills for economic prosperity.
The 2020 HEFW Summit saw
569ATTENDEES
222INSTITUTIONS
1COMMON GOAL
The Alliance Directorate
The Alliance Directorate is responsible for the year-round programming put on by the organization. The Directorate is comprised of financial wellness practitioners from around the country who are passionate about spreading the knowledge they’ve learned from their time in the field. If you have any questions about the Alliance, please reach out to info@hefwa.org.
Phil Schuman, Executive Director
Bryan Ashton, Managing Director
Spencer Bowman, Director of Digital Media
Jimena Huaco, Co-Director of Alliance Programming
Morgan McMillan, Co-Director of the Summit
Nate Peterson, Director of Marketing and Communications
Philippa Satterwhite - Director of Summit Programming
Karen Serna, Director of Research
Janessa Siegel, Director of Sponsorships
Claudia Villicaña, Co-Director of Alliance Programming
Brad Yeckley, Director of Volunteers
The Alliance Advisory Board
The Alliance relies on the guidance of leaders in the higher education community committed to bringing financial wellness to students. The Advisory Board is comprised of individuals serving at four-year public and private schools, two-year schools, and other organizations supporting student succes.
More details on the Advisory Board will be coming soon.
